There’s an SNL skit I absolutely love.
The sketch is generally an absurdist humor sketch featuring (what I thought was hypothetical) a brand of paint called Farrow and Ball. So the skit itself is hilarious, but you know how a really random line in something you watch just stands out in your mind for no reason?
The line “I met him on Facebook Marketplace” is one of those lines. It’s just so random and it made me think of Facebook Marketplace as a place full of these weird boyfriends.
Over the past few weeks I didn’t intend for this to happen but I ended up taking a long break from the Meta platforms. This had some unexpected side effects. For one I found myself with an incredible surplus of time. My jiu jitsu for some reason got a lot better too (probably because I spent less time looking at other people’s jiujitsu).
With that time I developed my latest suite of services along with my new website. It’s fucking amazing, I love it so much. I thought perhaps this would be my sign to quit all the Meta platforms for good. Then something happened: I needed to sell some stuff from home.
Since many years ago I usually donated my stuff to various nonprofit organizations but some things I thought would better serve a buyer than a general receiving end. I thought of Craigslist but I’ve had some sketchy encounters with Craigslist I didn’t want to recreate.
In the midst of this conundrum my friend Ali suggested that I try Facebook Marketplace. What was the appeal of Facebook Marketplace? Well according to Ali when you put it on Facebook Marketplace they usually have a fast turnaround, and they don’t take a portion of the sale like eBay does (don’t even get me started on that!).
So I put some stuff on Facebook Marketplace and I’ve had the most… Interesting encounters. But here are some lessons I’ve learned (which might be obvious to you) through selling stuff online.
The market is really honest. What I mean is, when you price something lower than the market price you’re going to IMMEDIATELY get messages. When you price something higher than the market price you’re not going to hear a lot. You can use this to gauge the perceived value of a tangible item.
I guess that’s something I’m learning as I write this. Perceived value of something largely dictates the actual value of something when it’s a tangible item that’s circulated in the market for its utility.
But this doesn’t apply to auctions and pawn shops. Yes, there are comparables and measurements of value but in the end how does one price the relative worth of a Picasso vs. a Magritte? It’s up to how much a person perceives it to be outside of MARKET value.
Coaching interestingly sits in between the two. Yes, there is a market price for coaching but at the same time coaching is such a personal experience it’s somewhat free from the traditional pricing model of goods and services. I may think a 2000$ astrology reading is insane based on the average price of an astrology reading, but I’ve seen people pay a lot more and still walk away with the feeling of money well spent.
Another lesson: haggling is the norm. When I first started selling I was so pissed at people who wanted to haggle. Dafuq dude, the price is literally listed right there! But as I sell more and more things, even I see the value of haggling: what have I got to lose? My reputation from a person who I’m never going to see again after this?
I price my things generally on the lower end because I’d much rather prefer the item leave my home. So when people offer me a low price, I didn’t think of doing this revolutionary thing: just say no! Of course they want to buy something at a cheaper price, but as a seller I have the right to say no without being angry or offended. This has made my selling experience so much more pleasant.
Lastly… The world has some great diversity in terms of people. Going back to the SNL sketch, there are definitely some people like that on the marketplace. I once sold a guitar, and after I marked the guitar as sold a guy messaged me at 3AM that night with great rage. Calling me stupid for not selling the guitar to him who would have played it so well.
I also saw a student who was really excited to game with my mechanical keyboard. A guy offered to give me a tattoo (!!!) in exchange for my synthesizer. A lady bought an entire vacuum cleaner from me because she had the same vacuum cleaner but a part broke, and it was cheaper to buy another whole vacuum than replace that part. Ha!
Then today I sold my ukulele to a lady. She was quite a character. She arrived in a small car, dressed in bohemian clothing. She had a light, airy vibe and wanted to test my ukulele before committing to the purchase.
She asked me why I was selling it, and I told her that the ukulele is fine but i just lost interest in playing. She told me she runs a ukulele university, and that she teaches people how to play the ukulele over zoom.
She showed me her personal ukulele. It had colored stickers on the frets. She told me it was her unique system of teaching how to play chords in an easy-to-understand way. It made total sense for me! I thought it was a great idea.
She liked how my ukulele sounded, and started to look for her purse. She told me to tell all of my friends (which is why I’m emailing you) to check her out if they want to learn how to play the ukulele. She told me I was welcome too!
… Then she realized the ridiculousness of that statement as she was buying my ukulele from me. Haha! We had a good laugh, and she showed me her purse: it was a ukulele purse. Isn’t that adorable? This lady was an ukulele personified, and it was a 30$ exchange that really brightened my day.
She was so earnest and sincere with her offering too. She just wanted me to spread the joy of playing ukulele on her behalf. Isn’t that what I’m kinda doing with all of you? To reduce the amount of suffering in the world?
So my friends, if you want to start playing ukulele please check out Melanie’s website at getstartedplayingukulele.com.
Billy Seol
July Life Coach
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